Wednesday, November 17, 2021

YouTube Co-Founder Expresses Disapproval Over Hiding Dislike Count

Jawed Karim, the co-founder of YouTube, the video-sharing platform now owned by Google, has updated the description of the first-ever video shared on the platform to express his disapproval of the... https://ift.tt/3kGnTgp

BSNL Revises Rs. 187 Prepaid Plan, Now Offers 2GB Daily Data

BSNL has revised its Rs. 187 prepaid plan in India. It now offers 2GB daily data and unlimited voice calls. The validity of the plan is 28 days and it also comes with 100 SMS per day benefit. https://ift.tt/3wS4tKh

A look at the promise and perils of personalized avatars in Meta's metaverse, as some experts worry it might make body image issues even worse (Tanya Basu/MIT Technology Review)

Tanya Basu / MIT Technology Review:
A look at the promise and perils of personalized avatars in Meta's metaverse, as some experts worry it might make body image issues even worse  —  Some people are excited to see realistic avatars that look like them.  Others worry it might make body image issues even worse.



Micfo CEO Amir Golestan pleads guilty to wire fraud charges after fraudulently acquiring thousands of IP addresses from nonprofit ARIN, a first-of-its-kind case (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Micfo CEO Amir Golestan pleads guilty to wire fraud charges after fraudulently acquiring thousands of IP addresses from nonprofit ARIN, a first-of-its-kind case  —  Amir Golestan was accused of using his web-services company Micfo to win scarce IP addresses by fraudulent means



South African payments gateways service Ozow, which makes online transactions simpler, raises a $48M Series B led by Tencent (Tage Kene-Okafor/TechCrunch)

Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:
South African payments gateways service Ozow, which makes online transactions simpler, raises a $48M Series B led by Tencent  —  According to a 2019 report by Deloitte, about 80% of South Africans have a bank account but only 24% of them make more than three transactions monthly.



Meta Showcases Prototype Haptic Glove, Will Let Users Feel Objects in VR

Meta to fuel its shift towards augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), has unveiled a prototype wearable. The haptic gloves announced by the company allow people to feel and interact with... https://ift.tt/2YSZmwH

Moto G41 Official-Looking Renders, Key Specifications Surface Online

Moto G41 launch seems imminent as a tipster has shared some official-looking renders of the smartphone. It is codenamed 'Corfu' but there is no information about the release as of now. The Motorola... https://ift.tt/3oU3kOT

Activision Blizzard Workers Call for CEO Bobby Kotick's Departure

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick defended his handling of harassment complaints as a group of workers at the video game company called for his departure. https://ift.tt/3Csr15k

Indian startup GoKwik, which helps e-commerce merchants improve conversions and lower return rates, raises a $15M Series A led by Sequoia Capital India (The Economic Times)

The Economic Times:
Indian startup GoKwik, which helps e-commerce merchants improve conversions and lower return rates, raises a $15M Series A led by Sequoia Capital India  —  GoKwik plans to use the funds to expand its client base to social commerce startups, scale up the product and technology teams and launch new products.



Amazon tells UK customers it won't accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK from January 19, 2022, citing high transaction fees (Alberto Nardelli/Bloomberg)

Alberto Nardelli / Bloomberg:
Amazon tells UK customers it won't accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK from January 19, 2022, citing high transaction fees  —  - Customers told the change will come into effect in Jan. 2022  — Amazon cites high fees charged by Visa as reason for change



Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over copyright infringement for selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts; Miramax says it owns screenplay rights (Gene Maddaus/Variety)

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over copyright infringement for selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts; Miramax says it owns screenplay rights  —  Miramax filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Quentin Tarantino of copyright infringement by selling NFTs based on the screenplay for “Pulp Fiction.”



South Korea weighs monetary fines to rein in Apple and Google

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said it proposes a a monetary penalty of up to 2% of Korea app market revenue in such instances. The dominant app market operators will also incur a monetary penalty of up to 1% of Korea app store https://ift.tt/3Hx12h5

Nokia to launch cloud-based software subscription service

Nokia said on Wednesday it plans to launch a cloud-based software subscription service targeting telecom companies for providing software around analytics, security and data management. https://ift.tt/3Flbjeg

India could bar transactions in crypto, permit holding as assets: Report

India is likely to bar the use of cryptocurrencies for transactions or making payments, but allow them to be held as assets like gold, shares or bonds, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. https://ift.tt/3njRFJn

Infinix Smart 5 Pro With 6,000mAh Battery, HD+ Display Launched

Infinix Smart 5 Pro has silently been launched in Pakistan. The smartphone comes with an HD+ display and is powered by an octa-core SoC. https://ift.tt/3wWkgrf

Japan allocates another $9.9B to boost its chip, quantum computing, and AI endeavors, with an undisclosed amount going to chip startup Rapidus (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg : Japan allocates another $9.9B to boost its chip, quantum computing, and AI endeavors, with an undisclosed amount going to chi...